Today I have a very special blog post an interview with romance writer, Jillian Chantal.  Jillian is part of one of my favorite blogs, The Southern Sizzle Romance blog here on WordPress.  The Sizzlers, are celebrating their first anniversary this month and have some really awesome things happening on their blog.  So without further ado:

(Note to readers: Jillian will be responding to comments and questions as SFCatty)

 Jillian, please tell us a little something about the ladies at Southern Sizzle.  We are all members of the Gulf Coast Chanpter of the Romance Writers of America. I met four of them when I joined the chapter and already knew two of them. One of the ones I knew already, I had no idea she wrote romance and was surprised to see her at the meeting.

 What kind of writers will we find on the Southern Sizzle Romance blog?  We have a wide variety- Lizbeth writes fantasy mostly but has been known to write other things. Romancemama writes Regency historicals, RitaVF also likes to write historicals. Sayde Grace writes paranormal and erotica.  Runere writes paranormal and loves werewolves. Gothic Dweller writes dark paranormal. I write contemporary and romantic suspense.  I also have one historical from 1920.

 It sounds like a really fun group.  Have any of the Sizzlers been published yet? Yes. Sayde Grace and I have  been published 

 I know all of you Sizzlers have your own day to blog, what could someone expect to find during the week? Mondays with Rita VF, which we call Moonsday, are historical hunks in history (how’s that for alliteration?); Tuesday is Sayde  Grace and her entries about Industry News; Wednesday, otherwise known as Wetsday, with Romancemama, are wet, sexy men; Thursdays are with Gothic Dweller who is entrancing us with her story right now; Friday with Runere is Fantasy Friday and she regales us with entries about everyday life in her world as well as fantastic things like ghosts; Saturday is my day with Badurday- I postbad boys of fiction- books and film; and Sundays are spent with Lizbeth in Wish You Were Here places. Places that inspire writing.  Our blog is very eclectic.  Most anyone can find something to love.

  It does sound like something for everyone.   I know I always find something that moves me.  I’ve been following Southern Sizzle almost since it’s inception and I can’t believe it’s almost been a year.  What exciting things do you have planned for your upcoming Anniversary celebration? We are having guest bloggers and some book giveaways.

  How about your guest bloggers, who do we have to look forward to seeing grace the pages of Southern Sizzle? Too many to name.  Lots of great editors, agents and writers. Check out our list here: http://southernsizzleromance.wordpress.com/anniversary-celebration/

 Now tell us a something about you?  In my real life, I am an attorney.  I love to write fiction and picked up the romance side of it about the end of 2007- as a stress release.  I have written a bankruptcy manual that is in its 6th edition and have some short stories published and some more coming out soon.

 What are you working on these days? A story called Surfer Bride-  A romantic suspense

 I do love a suspense novel and when you throw in the surf element it sounds like great fun.  I know you have several short stories published.  Do tell us something about those and most importantly where can we find them?

I have several through Whortleberry Press. One called The Arm from the 2009 Halloween Anthology; one called Christmas on Bethlehem Star from their 2009 Christmas Anthology; a story called Rumpelstiltskin’s Quest in Free Range Fairy Tales-  can find these here: http://whortleberrypress.com

 COMING SOON: From L&L Dreamspell: story called Pimps and Hos in the Dreamspell Mystery Anthology Vol I   http://www.lldreamspell.com/SherryChancellor.htm

 From Whortleberry Press: The True Believers in the 2010 Halloween Anthology

 From Romance Magazine: A story named One Night in Costa Rica.  This is in the launch issue of Romance Magazine and will be available Sept 1, 2010. http://romancestoriesmagazine.com/

They are still working on the launch of the website so save the link!

 (Note:  The stories in the Whortleberry Press Anthologies and L & L Dreamspell were written as Sherry Chancellor.  Jillian Chantal makes her writing debut in One Night in Costa Rica – which is a great story) 

 I know you are taking time out of your busy schedule at the RWA Conference to do this interview, can you share any highlights from your trip so far? Sorry I didn’t have a chance to do this there. I told my friend I should get a discount on my room since I was never in it.  The highlights were the book signings and hanging with friends- old and new.  Was a great conference.

  So glad you had a good time at the conference, it’s hard to squeeze any anything extra.   It sounds like being part of a group, both your local RWA Chapter and your Sizzle Group is a very good thing.   For those of us out there writing on our own can you tell us how being part of a group can be helpful? The friendships and encouragement are unbeatable.  Writing is a solitary thing and when you can hang with people who are as passionate about your craft as you are, it is amazing.

 Thanks Darlene for having me as your guest. I have very much enjoyed it and would love to give a copy away of my short story, One Night in Costa Rica to one of the commentators here.  Leave me a comment and I’ll draw a name and we’ll send one on.   Thanks again for having me here as your guest.

 Thank you Jillian for being here.  It was great fun having you here.  I’m going to add some pictures of the awesome men you’ve shared on your Bad-urday posts to liven up the place a bit.   Thanks again and check back for the winner of a PDF copy of Jillian’s awesome short story, One Night In Costa Rica.

  Be sure and check out Jillian’s own blog at www.jillianchantal.wordpress.com

Note: Edited to change prize in giveaway.